Fresh Updates from RAC

“The planet is warming at an alarming rate. There is no emergency room for sick planets. We have to engage in the preventative care that makes it possible to avoid the worst, most catastrophic effects of climate change.” – Senator Markey at the GLOBE Climate Legislation Summit

Last week public officials and leaders from over 50 countries came together in Washington, D.C. for the 2nd GLOBE Climate Legislation Summit hosted by longtime environmental advocate, Senator Ed Markey. The goal of the summit was to discuss how legislators can best develop, pass and implement national laws on climate change and forestry. Participating legislators also discussed the potential for international agreements in anticipation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Paris in 2015. Read more…

At the end of January, the State Department released a report that could potentially push President Obama’s approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline would transport a low grade, impure form of crude petroleum from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas. While the State Department officials reported that the pipeline project would not have a negative impact on the environment, for years, environmentalists have argued to the contrary.

Consider the facts. The pipeline would produce 830,000 barrels of oil, which would add anywhere between an extra 1.3 million to 27.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. This is approximately the equivalent of the CO₂ that would be emitted by 250,000 to 5 million cars on the road. These numbers are staggering, but the report from the State Department says that if the Keystone XL were not built to carry oil, railroads would be–actually increasing emissions because of the diesel fuel and electricity needed to transport the oil by train or truck. However, the report also acknowledges that the tar sands oil produces significantly more emissions than standard methods of drilling. Read more…

Barbara Weinstein: “These proposed standards reflect our nation’s commitment to combating climate change, which is not just an environmental challenge, but one of the greatest social justice challenges of our time.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 6, 2014—In September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed strict limits to carbon emissions from new power plants. Speaking today at the EPA public hearing on the Carbon Pollution Standards, Barbara Weinstein, Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and the Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, submitted the following testimony:

I’m Barbara Weinstein, Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, which advocates on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose 900 congregations across North America include 1.3 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2000 Reform rabbis. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of the EPA’s proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for new power plants. These proposed standards reflect our nation’s commitment to combating climate change, which is not just an environmental challenge, but one of the greatest social justice challenges of our time. Read more…

As stewards of the Earth, we have a responsibility to commit ourselves to protecting the environment and combating the effects of climate change on three levels: through individual actions, through communal behavior and through advocacy efforts.

Over the last few years, through the Religious Action Center’s partnership with GreenFaith, we have been able to improve our impact on the environment and address the threat of climate change on all three of these levels.

GreenFaith is an interfaith organization that helps congregations green their buildings, engage in environmental activism and create educational initiatives. GreenFaith has partnered with seven URJ congregations fulfilling the Jewish obligation to the environment, “to till and tend” (Genesis 2:15). GreenFaith offers a two-year congregational certification program, opportunities to engage in a weekend of environmental activities through their shield certifications, and many resources for synagogues. Read more…

This post is part of a  series on the RAC’s expectations and hopes for President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 28^th.

Tonight during the State of the Union address, there is no doubt President Obama will mention his continued goals in fully enacting and enforcing his historic Climate Action Plan. While we commend the President on prioritizing climate action, since he announced his plan in June, the implementation of climate change curbing policies have hit many speed bumps and road blocks. Tonight, we hope President Obama will strongly reaffirm his commitment to the environment and combating climate change.

In 2009, President Obama established a carbon pollution reduction goal with the hope of lowing the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions level by 2020 to be 17 percent below the level in 2005. While ambitious, drastically reducing pollution by 2020 would be a huge step towards tackling the impact of climate change. Under President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the EPA will establish a final rule on carbon pollution standards from new power plants by June of this year. Further, in the context of new international climate agreements to be finalized in 2015, we hope the President will make mention of the United States’ (and all of the major world economies’) responsibility to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more…

Last week, Congress passed the omnibus spending bill that funds all the government’s activities, with strong bipartisan support. While we commend this achievement nearly five years in the making, the spending bill largely undermines environmental regulatory actions. Here is a breakdown of the different effected areas:

Energy: In this budget, more money is being allocated to researching and developing advancements in coal, natural gas, oil and nuclear energy technologies than in the 2013 fiscal year. While the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will receive $1.9 billion, which is far less than the $2.8 billion requested by President Obama. Further, the bill bars funding to enforce a light bulb standard passed by Congress in 2007 that would ban the use of incandescent bulbs. Read more…

Today, Jews worldwide are celebrating the “New Year of the Trees,” Tu BiSh’vat. Historically, Tu BiSh’vat was established as an agricultural festival, marking the coming of spring. This year, with all the holidays arriving early, it’s hard to see the light of spring when many of us throughout North America are still in the midst of a brutally cold winter.

Yet, with the rise of the Jewish environmental movement, Tu BiSh’vat has taken on more than its historical significance. Today, Tu BiSh’vat is considered the “Jewish Earth Day” and has expanded from being merely a celebration of trees to being a celebration of the whole natural world and an opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to environmental stewardship. Today, we reflect on our relationship with the earth, our impact on the planet and our responsibility to combating the threat of climate change. Further, Tu BiSh’vat is a commemoration of the first of many days devoted to honoring the environment. Read more…

A number of resolutions were adopted at the URJ Biennial Convention in San Diego in December, including one on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of extracting natural gas that involves drilling wells deep into the ground and injecting water, sand and potentially dangerous chemicals at a high pressure to rupture the earth.

While the actual process of hydraulic fracturing, also referred as “hydrofracking” or just “fracking,” has been around since the 1940s, the dramatic increase in fracking sites across the country have led to divisive conversations amongst the energy sector, politicians, environmentalists and public citizens. Read more…